Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA SPLITS FINAL SEASON SERIES WITH WORCESTER

By Christina Caligiuri

After beating the second place Sharks last night, the Moose dropped a 5-2 decision to the Worcester club in the rematch Wednesday night in front of 6,374 fans at MTS Centre. Manitoba finished 1-3-0-0 against the Sharks in their first-ever four-game regular season series. Marty Murray and Travis Ramsey both scored for Manitoba while goaltender Daren Machesney stopped 38 of 43 shots in his 13th loss this campaign.

The Moose came out of the gates strong, scoring a mere 29 seconds after the first face-off. Matt Pettinger started the play when he flew down the left side of the ice and fired a shot on goaltender Alex Stalock. After the attempt was blocked, Marty Murray came skating up the middle and smacked the rebound into the open cage to put his team in the first lead.

Manitoba received back-to-back powerplays in the early half of the opening frame, but was unable to extend their lead. They did, however, command the shot clock 6-3.

At 10:58 Worcester benefited when Mike Keane was put away for interference. The Sharks powerplay unit couldn’t register a single shot on netminder Daren Machesney and play returned to even-strength.

With Mario Bliznak serving time for goaltender interference at 4:25 of the second period, Worcester was able to tie the game. Centre Dwight Helminen, in his first game back after being re-assigned by San Jose, shelved the puck over Machesney at 5:14 to get back on even ground.

The Sharks stole the lead 2:20 later. Machesney made the initial save on Frazer McLaren’s shot but commotion in front of the net allowed Matt Jones to tip the puck over the goal-line for a 2-1 tally.

Worcester put themselves in a two-goal lead 1:30 into the final frame.  T.J. Trevelyan beat a screened Machesney under his glove hand for a 3-1 score. Worcester not only led the game but also the shot department 34-16.

On their 36th shot of the night, Ryan Vesce’s shot sailed over Machesney’s shoulder for a 4-1 Sharks lead. On their next shot, the visitors capitalized again when Dan DaSilva slapped the puck into the mesh, 5-1.

Unlikely participant Lawrence Nycholat stepped into the ring with Andrew Dejardins at 10:51. Nycholat won the battle after three solid punches and both attackers were handed a major and minor for their actions – along with a misconduct for the Manitoba defenceman.

At 14:29 Manitoba’s Travis Ramsey teed up at the point and drove the puck home for his second goal of the season to inch closer, 5-2. The last minute effort wouldn’t be enough, however, and the Moose dropped a 5-2 decision to the Sharks to close-out their regular season series.